Equipment Going to order a Canon D.R. XTi

But I just want a quick sanity check first. I've played around with them in a couple stores and a friend who has one highly recommends it, so I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has a reason *not* to get one.

Planning to get the black XTi/400D with the kit lens through Amazon for $800, and I think I'm going to get the 4-year warranty for another $70 (it covers quite a bit, and it'll more than pay for itself if I have to use it once), plus I think I may pick up the RC1 wireless remote as well.

I know the kit lens isn't spectacular by any means, but I figure it'll be good enough for now until I can save up for a nicer one. The oft-recommended Canon f/1.8 50mm prime lens, while probably much better (at least on paper) would be a nice addition, but wouldn't be too suitable for me if I bought the camera body-only (I need at least one non-prime lens), and I found a decently cheap pair of Sigmas that I may eventually get (that I've tagged up at del.icio.us/firehed/slr) if they end up being suitable.

But for now, I'm just wondering if the XTi and 4-year warranty for $870 sounds good - quick sanity check and all that.

Thanks
Firehed

 

It's an awesome camera, and the kit lens really isn't that bad. You'll be fine with it for a while
I love my 400D, it's great.

 

Hoorah!

I would still recommend the 50mm F/1.8

While it's a prime, it usually stays on my body, and I seldom change it. I really really hate the kit lense, which I must grudgingly use for wide angles until I buy a nice wide.

Third party lenses are usually regarded as less quality, but I can recommend the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 as a good replacement for your kit lense. It's got alright build quality, horrible AF (sound and speed, but accurate), but it's affordable and images come out sharper than the 17-40 F/4L (when shooting stopped down to F/4, but about as sharp at F/2.8) - oh, and don't forget the F/2.8!

The Canon 50mm F/1.8 is a steal. Very wide aperture at 1.8, and VERY VERY sharp at F/2-2.8 - L lense image quality! It's just shoddily made with crappy focus, but it's the cheapest lense out there, and a very good one at that.

 

What sort of focusing range is on the f/1.8 50mm? I intend to get one at some point, but would it be any good for macro-esque work?

Of course it may not matter since I'll be moving to a three times higher-res camera and have a lot more to work with when cropping and whatnot, but I'm weird that way

Since this is my first foray into dSLRs... I really should check that my assumptions are correct. By sound and speed, you're referring to actual noise made when focusing, and the speed at which it does so? How slow are you talking? I'm used to point+shoot so the XTi I've played around with at a local store feels practically instantaneous (unless it's on something that it has trouble focusing on, like some glossy one-color backdrop). And "L lens quality" and the like mean pretty much nothing to me, much like IS and USM (ie, I know what they stand for, not what the benefit is or whether it's worth spending for).

Anyways, I think I'm going to order the camera tonight, but I'm sure I'll pick up the f/1.8 at some point. I really should pick up another memory card, but I'll have to survive for now on my 1GB.

Any other tips and whatnot would be great

 

If it's the same as the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 then around 45cm, so it's not great for macro stuff at all really.

Yeah moving from a point and shoot, even fairly slow AF is going to seem instantaneous.

Canon 'L' series lenses are regarded as the best that Canon produce in terms of sharpness, build-quality etc. so by saying a lens is L lens quality, you're rating it fairly highly. Image stabilisation (IS) helps to keep photos sharp when you're using lower shutter speeds. I haven't had any experience with it myself but as far as I know a lot of people consider it useful when shooting at shutter speeds less than 1/focal length. Probably not worth paying a huge premium for (which usually is the case with IS lenses) though.

 

I just bought a Canon 400D (XTi by US naming scheme). I love it! Takes a lot of getting used to compared to a point and shoot but the results are great. I'd say stick with the stock lens and explore what kind of ranges you shoot and then consider extra kit.

 

Well, just ordered it (and a few other bits and bobs from Amazon... Wii Component cables and some more foams earpieces for my E2Cs)... hopefully it won't take too long to get here!

Thanks for the info Nath. I'm assuming that the sharpness at slower speeds are only a real issue when you're doing handheld, and not tripod work, right? At least with film, I was taught to generally use 1/30 as the slowest handheld speed (though faster is of course better) though I've heard 1/FL for some digitals. Anyways, I'll play around with it more once it comes in. Luckily, I've got FFXII to keep me occupied in the meantime

 

Don't get started with L's, it's VERY unhealthy
I'd skip the kit lens and get the body only with a prime, the 50mm f1.8 or better the 50mm f1.4 or if you're up to it a decent walkaround zoom.
Then a quality tripod and a decent flash.

 

You don't know what you're missing until you've shot "L". I first thought it was some silly overrated crap regarded by snobby pros - until I became one of them.

That's not to say that ALL "L" glass is superb. Some of it is fairly soft, and not as good as alternatives (very rarely), but nothing else really matches in terms of build quality.

But here's the Canon terminology for lenses for you:

Focusing
- USM: Fast to focus and quiet - need I say more?
- Micromotor: used on the older lenses, noisy, a bit slower, but bearable (used on the 50mm F/1.8 to keep costs down)
- Ring USM: What you want. Allows FTM.
-FTM: Full Time Manual focus or something. Basically, it means you can manually turn the focus ring after the cameras done auto-focusing. This is a nice features, since other types of non-ring USM lock up, and to turn the focus ring, you have to switch to "MF".

Other lense crap:
- F: you know this already. The lower the better!
- x-ymm: you definetly know this
- IS: Image stabilization - depending on the version and age, it ranges from an advertised 2-4 stops. Safe to assume you'll get 2-3 on it. Great for still shots and other artistic applications, useless for moving objects in low light. Definetly a nice feature, but are you willing to pay the premium?
- "L" - The sh*t - contagious, good for photos, bad for your wallet, and interpersonal relationships


Do not dismiss USM - especially Ring-USM. Once you've used it, you'll want ALL your lenses to have it. My only complaint about the Tamron I recommended (17-50 F/2.8) is the lack of USM (or a comparable technology). USM is even FASTER than the kit lense that was probably mounted on the XTi's you played around in the store. I'm thinking of replacing my F/1.8 with the F/1.4 on the basis of USM alone (oh, and the 7 blade aperture).

Here are my lense suggestions for a low budget:

- 50mm F/1.8 (my primary lense - haha, semi-unintended pun)
- Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8
- 70-200 F/4L (choose this over the 70-300 IS, you won't regret it)
- Canon 100mm F/2.8 Macro (if you like shooting macro, this is the cheapest 1:1 Canon out there, and from what I've read, it's superb)